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A Journey - Exclusive fashion shoot & interview

Charlene Soraia is a stunning mix, part
British, part Italian and part Indian with a beautifully flawless face
and a mane of thick hair. (She’s often asked where she bought her hair
from, but they’re not extensions, it’s the ‘part Indian’ bit). When we
met Charlene it was clear to see that music is like her second skin.
Like we inhale and exhale a breath, Charlene sings. Whether it’s
quietly to herself or almost under her breath, she fills every silence
with a la-di-da or instinctive melody – and it’s completely mesmerizing.

Far from being your average music artist, she finished her debut album ‘Moonchild’ over two years ago after releasing 3 EPs on her own label. “I
made 3 EPs, 1000 copies of each. I printed out everything myself, cut
out each cover myself and put them all together. I did all 3000 myself!” Certainly no newbie to the music scene, it’s her recent cover of The Calling’s ‘Wherever You Will Go’
for the Twinings advert that has rocketed her in to the limelight.
ACCESS-FASHION heard the song, shared it on our blog and by the time we
clicked on the iTunes charts she was number 13 and has so far peaked at
number 3 (Official UK charts). The release of ‘Moonchild‘ was scheduled for 2012 but was brought forward to this week (November 21st 2011) due to demand.

Charlene is cute, quirky, sweet and
hilarious. At her album launch in London’s Bush Hall, her first
headline gig since the ‘Twinings’ moment, Charlene referred to herself
as, “Always the bridesmaid and never the bride,” at gigs. “Usually
I’m saying thanks for having me to an audience that would really like
me to hurry up and piss off so they can hear the act they’ve paid to
see… This time you’re here to see me and I don’t know what to say.
Thank you so much for coming down.” The event was sold out and yes
everyone was there to see Charlene Soraia – so here’s hoping she gets
used to it, as it’s all change from now.

She’s an artist who loves the sound of
music. An odd sentence it may seem with no reference to the Rodgers and
Hammerstein musical, but whilst shooting she told us, “I love analogue sound. That’s how I made my album. I like to create the sounds myself, nothing over compressed. Nothing fake.”
She took to the stage with four guitars, her amp, her pedals and her
voice. Her music is packed with sounds she creates so effortlessly,
elegantly and gracefully, one of the reasons we adore her. It’s clear
that she isn’t led by a team of people telling her how to speak or what
to speak about (one of the pros of coming from a small independent
record label perhaps?). But oh boy did she speak her mind, humming,
swearing and meowing her thoughts aloud to the audience between songs.
She’s a humorous soul with songs like ‘Bipolar,’ which has the line “I’m bipolar and nobody knows it but me.’ She talks the audience through a song titled, ‘Does she fake her cum face?’ No, we’re really not kidding… (You had to be there). But there’s nothing fake about the girl behind the humorous character and witty lyrics. Charlene Soraia’s Moonchild is beautiful body of work. Although female singer / songwriters seem in
abundance, few display the talent, charisma and character that we have
been introduced to.